Tidjane Thiam, opposition leader and declared candidate in Côte d’Ivoire’s upcoming presidential election, is no longer a French national. The news was confirmed through a decree published on Thursday in France’s Official Journal, just weeks after Thiam formally requested to renounce his French citizenship—an essential requirement to run in the October 25 election.

“They are released from their allegiance to France: THIAM (Cheick, Tidjane), born on 29/07/1962 in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire),” reads the decree signed by the French government on Wednesday.

The nationality of the president of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), the main opposition party, has been a hot topic of political debate in the country for weeks. On February 7, Thiam publicly announced that he had initiated the process of renouncing his French nationality to comply with the legal requirements for presidential candidates.

According to Article 55 of the Constitution of Côte d’Ivoire, any presidential candidate must “be exclusively of Ivorian nationality, born to an Ivorian father or mother by origin.”

Born an Ivorian citizen, Thiam was granted French nationality in 1987 while studying in France, in recognition of his distinguished academic career at the prestigious École Polytechnique and Mines ParisTech, according to his entourage. He later served as a minister in Côte d’Ivoire from 1994 to 1999 before pursuing a successful private-sector career in Europe.

In recent weeks, however, the debate has shifted to Article 48 of Côte d’Ivoire’s nationality code, dating back to the 1960s. According to the article, “An adult Ivorian loses Ivorian nationality if they voluntarily acquire foreign nationality or formally recognize such nationality.”

Tidjane Thiam’s case is now under public scrutiny as legal experts and political observers weigh in on the implications of his former dual nationality for his presidential ambitions